Article by AndrewD and monkeyson
After recent improvements by Google to their Gmail service, we have discovered that it can now be accessed with some RISC OS browsers. When Gmail was launched last year, RISC OS users were restricted from access due to the JavaScript support that our browsers sadly lack.
The latest update has introduced a "Basic HTML view" which "lets you access your Gmail messages from almost any computer running almost any web browser, even old ones (not just IE5.5+, Mozilla, and Safari)". It works too - see the screenshots linked below.
Earlier today I tried to log in to my account using Oregano1. Whilst expecting it to get stuck in a JavaScript loop, I was suprised to see the contents of my Inbox, which until today I had only viewed in Firefox. After a small amount of testing I found Oregano2 could also access the service, but both NetSurf (unless you hack past a broken redirect), Browse and Fresco failed.
Gmail revolutionised email last year by being the first provider to offer 1GB of email storage, meaning you never have to delete emails again. It is still in beta, which means you can't register an account unless you're invited by an existing user. That said, invites are now very easy to come by due to the large number of users.
GMail in Oregano 2
GMail in Netsurf (requires a little manual work to get past the unsupported redirect tag)
About Gmail
What's new on Gmail
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Gmail comes to RISC OS |
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monkeyson2 (20:20 5/3/2005)
monkeyson2 (20:25 5/3/2005)
ad (20:27 5/3/2005)
ad (20:35 5/3/2005)
monkeyson2 (21:22 5/3/2005)
ad (21:46 5/3/2005)
Gulli (18:50 6/3/2005)
flibble (21:00 6/3/2005)
ad (17:20 7/3/2005)
ad (17:23 7/3/2005)
jeff-doggett (14:35 9/3/2005)
richcheng (03:11 11/3/2005)
druck (19:22 18/3/2005)
ad (23:09 18/3/2005)
druck (23:20 15/1/2007)
arawnsley (11:46 16/1/2007)
andrew (12:07 16/1/2007)
VincceH (12:56 16/1/2007)
andrew (14:19 16/1/2007)
arawnsley (14:44 16/1/2007)
VincceH (15:29 16/1/2007)
arawnsley (16:00 16/1/2007)
monkeyson2 (16:10 16/1/2007)
andrew (18:25 30/5/2007)
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Phil Mellor |
Message #93318, posted by monkeyson2 at 20:20, 5/3/2005 |
 Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler
Posts: 12380
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If you use NetSurf, you can log in but get a blank page. You have to view the page source and type in the URL from the meta http-redirect tag yourself, then reload the page and choose the non-javascript, basic HTML version. |
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Phil Mellor |
Message #93319, posted by monkeyson2 at 20:25, 5/3/2005, in reply to message #93318 |
Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler
Posts: 12380
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Does it work if you spoof your user agent? |
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Andrew Duffell |
Message #93320, posted by ad at 20:27, 5/3/2005, in reply to message #93319 |
Posts: 3262
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It let me into the basic verson when I was faking IE6 (and all the other options) in Oregano1. |
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Andrew Duffell |
Message #93321, posted by ad at 20:35, 5/3/2005, in reply to message #93320 |
Posts: 3262
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I clicked on the link to view the "standard" Gmail in O1, and now I can't get back to the basic one. I'm stuck in the old infinite loops that used to happen before. |
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Phil Mellor |
Message #93322, posted by monkeyson2 at 21:22, 5/3/2005, in reply to message #93321 |
Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler
Posts: 12380
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Try deleting your cookies. I remained logged in using O2, even though I hadn't ticked the 'remember password' box when signing in. |
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Andrew Duffell |
Message #93323, posted by ad at 21:46, 5/3/2005, in reply to message #93322 |
Posts: 3262
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Yeh, that's what I had to do :| Bit of a bad feature on their part really. |
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Gunnlaugur Jonsson |
Message #93324, posted by Gulli at 18:50, 6/3/2005, in reply to message #93323 |
Member
Posts: 138
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Hmm, I have a 160GB disc storing my e-mail and I haven't had to delete e-mail to make space for more data since 1992. Hardly a revolution on e-mail that! |
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Peter Howkins |
Message #93325, posted by flibble at 21:00, 6/3/2005, in reply to message #93324 |
Posts: 892
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Excellent, now I get to put off implimenting XML HTTP request for longer. |
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Andrew Duffell |
Message #93326, posted by ad at 17:20, 7/3/2005, in reply to message #93325 |
Posts: 3262
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Another way to get into Gmail with NetSurf is to login as normal, but when it gets stuck, type in http://www.gmail.com/. You will then get a link to take you to the "Basic View" that works. :) |
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Andrew Duffell |
Message #93327, posted by ad at 17:23, 7/3/2005, in reply to message #93326 |
Posts: 3262
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Gulli: I do the same, but for the masses that don't, and use Hotmail etc, it was a revolution in email. No one can really deny that. |
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Jeff Doggett |
Message #93328, posted by jeff-doggett at 14:35, 9/3/2005, in reply to message #93327 |
Member
Posts: 21
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See http://www.google-watch.org/gmail.html for some rather over the top comments about Google's privacy issues. |
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richard cheng |
Message #93329, posted by richcheng at 03:11, 11/3/2005, in reply to message #93328 |
Posts: 655
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And then, if you're not overly perturbed by said privacy issues, you can get yourself an invite from the Gmail invite spooler. |
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David J. Ruck |
Message #93330, posted by druck at 19:22, 18/3/2005, in reply to message #93329 |
Member
Posts: 9
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It is my policy not to correspond with anyone using a gmail account, or any other provider which eschews privacy of personal communications for commercial exploitation of the contents. |
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Andrew Duffell |
Message #93331, posted by ad at 23:09, 18/3/2005, in reply to message #93330 |
Posts: 3262
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So you don't talk to many people then ;)
To be honest, I couldn't care less if a computer "reads" my emails, as I'm sure many do already. |
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David J. Ruck |
Message #97205, posted by druck at 23:20, 15/1/2007, in reply to message #93331 |
Member
Posts: 9
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There's "reading it" and using there's contents to profile both the sender and recipient. |
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Andrew Rawnsley |
Message #97210, posted by arawnsley at 11:46, 16/1/2007, in reply to message #97205 |
R-Comp chap
Posts: 600
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One of the huge benefits of gmail over hotmail is that they offer POP3 mailbox access so that you can download gmail to your computer alongside any other POP3 email. They use POP3 over SSL (works fine in Hermes 1.10 and later (ie. NetFetch 2.10 or DialUp 3.10). By leaving mail on server, and skipping already fetched mail, you can even retain the advantages of webmail, whilst downloading gmail to your local machine when you are at home. If only hotmail offered that! |
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Andrew |
Message #97212, posted by andrew at 12:07, 16/1/2007, in reply to message #97210 |
 Handbag Boi
Posts: 3439
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Not on RISC OS you don't at least without technical insight. |
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VinceH |
Message #97215, posted by VincceH at 12:56, 16/1/2007, in reply to message #97212 |
 Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
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Not on RISC OS you don't at least without technical insight. I think Andrew used the words "works fine in Hermes 1.10 and later" for a reason - ie for the end user it's not a matter of technical insight, but a matter of having the right software. |
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Andrew |
Message #97217, posted by andrew at 14:19, 16/1/2007, in reply to message #97215 |
Handbag Boi
Posts: 3439
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From what I can tell off the Gmail website, the download configuration is for PC/Mac software only.
[Edited by andrew at 14:20, 16/1/2007] |
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Andrew Rawnsley |
Message #97219, posted by arawnsley at 14:44, 16/1/2007, in reply to message #97217 |
R-Comp chap
Posts: 600
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Yep, I know of several people using Gmail's POP3s fetching on RISC OS, using our software. Curiously it seems particularly popular down under! Just enter the Gmail pop server address, username, password and tick the "Use SSL" option. |
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VinceH |
Message #97224, posted by VincceH at 15:29, 16/1/2007, in reply to message #97217 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
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From what I can tell off the Gmail website, the download configuration is for PC/Mac software only. A "download configuration" for Windows software usually consists of a human readable text file, with a file extension I can't remember - it's been that long since I even looked at one (is it .ini?). This file reveals the key information the user will need: Server addresses, username, password, etc. Presumably, this is what GMail provides in order to work with existing software.
And I may be mis-remembering (Andrew will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong) but ISTR that the RComp software was able to automagically extract that information from such a file.
Andrew: If memory serves, many years back, when I wrote a two part article for Archive about manually setting up RISC OS internet software to use UKGateway as an ISP, you made a comment to that effect, in order to show that the use of your software was much easier than doing it the manual/more technical way. |
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Andrew Rawnsley |
Message #97228, posted by arawnsley at 16:00, 16/1/2007, in reply to message #97224 |
R-Comp chap
Posts: 600
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That's correct, we auto-process the .ins files that Windows downloads to configure internet connections. I don't know if Gmail uses that or not (technically .ins is supposed to be for a complete set of internet settings), but NetFetch and DialUp can both extract the core info from such a file, and prompt the user for the missing items.
Indeed, our "Provider files" on the disc are simply .ins files with the username/password info missing!
However, in this specific example, I cannot speak from direct experience, just that users have contacted me to ask how to use gmail, and I say "Use the gmail POP3 server, with your username and password, and tick SSL". This is usually followed by an email saying "Thanks, it is now working!" |
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Phil Mellor |
Message #97229, posted by monkeyson2 at 16:10, 16/1/2007, in reply to message #97228 |
Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler
Posts: 12380
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I think you have to enable POP in the Gmail settings, but you cannot access the settings page in Basic HTML mode - so you need Firefox and/or another OS to set things up. |
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Andrew |
Message #102538, posted by andrew at 18:25, 30/5/2007, in reply to message #97229 |
Handbag Boi
Posts: 3439
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It can be enabled in Fresco but I'm having problems with the send.
Incidentally do Google have a news server you can post to from a client? |
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